Vsevolod I Yaroslavich of Kiev (1030-1093)
}} Vsevolod I Yaroslavich (Russian: Всеволод I Ярославович, Ukrainian: Всеволод I Ярославич, Old Norse: Vissivald), (1030 – 13 April 1093) ruled as Grand Prince of Kiev from 1078 until his death. Early life He was the fifth and favourite son of Yaroslav I the Wise by Ingegerd Olofsdotter. He was born around 1030. On his seal from his last years, he was named "Andrei Vsevolodu" in Greek, implying that his baptismal name was Andrew. To back up an an armistice signed with the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos in 1046, his father married Vsevolod to a Byzantine princess, who according to tradition, was named Anastasia or Maria. That the couple's son Vladimir Monomakh bore the family name of the Byzantine emperor, suggests she was a member of his close family, but no contemporary evidence attests to a specific relationship and accounts of the Emperor give him no such daughter.Kazhdan, Alexander (1989). "Rus'-Byzantine Princely Marriages in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries". Harvard Ukrainian Studies. Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. 12/13: 414–429. Upon his father's death in 1054, he received in appanage the towns of Pereyaslav, Rostov, Suzdal, and the township of Beloozero which would remain in possession of his descendants until the end of Middle Ages. Together with his elder brothers Izyaslav and Svyatoslav he formed a sort of princely triumvirate which jointly waged war on the steppe nomads, Polovtsians, and compiled the first East Slavic law code. In 1055 Vsevolod launched an expedition against the Torks who had in the previous years expelled the Pechenegs from the Pontic steppes. He also made peace with the Polovtsians who appeared for the first time in Europe in the same year. The Polovtsians invaded his principality in 1061 and routed Vsevolod in a battle. Vsevolod persuaded his brother, Izyaslav, and their distant cousin, Vseslav to join him and they together attacked the Torks in 1060. In 1067 Vsevolod's Greek wife died and he soon married a Kypchak princess, Anna. She bore him another son, who drowned after the Battle of the Stugna River, and daughters, one becoming a nun and another, Eupraxia of Kiev, marrying emperor Heinrich IV of the Holy Roman Empire. The Polovtsians again invaded Kievan Rus' in 1068. The three brothers united their forces against them, but the Polovtsians routed them in the Battle of the Alta River. After their defeat, Vsevolod withdrew to Pereyaslavl. However, its citizens rose up in open rebellion, dethroned Izyaslav, and liberated and proclaimed Vseslav their grand prince. Vsevolod and Svyatoslav made no attempt to expel the usurper from Kiev. Vsevolod supported Svyatoslav against Izyaslav. They forced their brother to flee from Kiev in 1073. Feodosy, the saintly hegumen or head of the Monastery of the Caves in Kiev remained loyal to Izyaslav, and refused to had a lunch with Svyatoslav and Vsevolod. Izyaslav granted Svyatoslav's former principality to Vsevolod, but Sviatoslav's sons considered the Principality of Chernigov as their own patrimony or otchina. Oleg Svyiatoslavich made an alliance with the Polovtsians and invaded Chernigov. Izyaslav came to Vsevolod's rescue and they forced Oleg to retreat, but Izyaslav was killed in the battle. Reign After Izyaslav's death, Vsevolod, as their father's only surviving son, took the Kievan throne, thus uniting the three core principalities — Kiev, Chernigov and Pereyaslavl — in Kievan Rus'. He appointed his eldest son, Vladimir Monomach to administer Chernigov. The Russian Primary Chronicle writes that the "people no longer had access to the Prince's justice, judges became corrupt and venal",Russian Primary Chronicle (year 6601), p. 174. Vsevolod followed his young councilors' advice instead of that of his old retainers in his last years. Vsevolod spoke five foreign languages, according to Vladimir Monomach's Autobiography. Historian George Vernadsky, these probably included Greek and Cuman, because of the nationality of his two wives, and he likely spoke Latin, Norse and Ossetian. he lost most of his battles, his eldest son, Vladimir Monomakh, a grand and famous warrior, did most of the fighting for his father. The last years of his reign were clouded by grave illness, and Vladimir Monomakh presided over the government. Children Vsevolod and his first wife, a relative of Constantine IX Monomachos, had children: *Vladimir II Monomakh (1053–19 May 1125). *Anna Vsevolodovna (d. 3 November 1112) who was engaged to Constantine Dukas in 1074, but she never married She became a nun and started a school for girls. Vsevolod and his second wife Anna Polovetskaya had children: *Rostislav Vsevolodovich (1070 – 26 May 1093). Drowned while retreating from the Battle of the Stugna River. *Eupraxia of Kiev (1071 – 20 July 1109). Married first Henry the Long, Margrave of Nordarm, next Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor. *Yekaterina Vsevolodovna (d. 11 August 1108). A nun. Her date of death is recorded in the Primary Chronicle. * Mariya Vsevolodovna Ancestry See also * List of Ukrainian rulers * List of Russian rulers References Sources * * * * * *''The Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text'' (Translated and edited by Samuel Hazzard Cross and Olgerd P. Sherbowitz-Wetzor) (1953). Medieval Academy of America. . * External links * His listing in "Medieval lands" by Charles Cawley. * Vsevolod Yaroslavych in the Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993) Category:Rurik dynasty Category:1030 births Category:1093 deaths Category:Died in Vyshgorod Category:11th-century princes in Kievan Rus' Category:Burials at Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kiev Category:Orthodox monarchs 1054 1073 1078